wife washed keys

[compmore]

wife accidently washed the keys to my 94 540.have lost remote lock/unlock but key still works manually.is this likey to come good once they fully dry or should i start chasing a new key

geoffb

[Ferret]

wife accidently washed the keys to my 94 540.have lost remote lock/unlock but key still works manually.is this likey to come good once they fully dry or should i start chasing a new key

geoffb

Urgh, washing powder may have eaten the circuit board tracks off the remote, have you opened the remote up yet to have a look?

[Jon K]

wife accidently washed the keys to my 94 540.have lost remote lock/unlock but key still works manually.is this likey to come good once they fully dry or should i start chasing a new key

geoffb

hard to say - they had the battery in them while they were washed which means theres potential for oxidization due to current and being submerged in a conductive solution (soapy water) and perhaps it could be shorting out though thats pretty weak voltage and amperage, but you never know. but yeah, let it dry, I use a hair dryer to dry electronics when I wash them in the dish washer. It "should" be ok... but you never know

[Barney Paull-Edwards]

In the words of the immortal profit ben-allah-shish-kebab,you`re buggered! Even washed out they are ruined, due to the battery shorting out. Get thee to the stealer.

[whiskychaser]

wife accidently washed the keys to my 94 540.have lost remote lock/unlock but key still works manually.is this likey to come good once they fully dry or should i start chasing a new key

geoffb
The one time you expect them to be going through your pockets and they dont do they?

[BMWCCA1]

At this point it can't hurt to open it up, shoot it with contact cleaner, and let it dry thoroughly. Check the battery for proper voltage, and see what happens.

[t.wak]

Might have to reprogram the key if it's lost power for a while.

[Ross]

Agreed. I've seen cell phones restored after a trip to the bottom of a lake.

[BMWCCA1]

Ha! Yeah, one of my two daughters in college tossed her pants into the washer with her cell phone in the pocket. It was submerged but did not go through a cycle. I told her to take the battery off and let it dry for several days. It worked and eventually even the condensation went away. I had no room to complain. She was washing pants she was wearing for a summer job working at school. One form of responsibility overcame one minor irresponsible act. I'll bet she won't do it again!

[Ferret]

Ha! Yeah, one of my two daughters in college tossed her pants into the washer with her cell phone in the pocket. It was submerged but did not go through a cycle. I told her to take the battery off and let it dry for several days. It worked and eventually even the condensation went away. I had no room to complain. She was washing pants she was wearing for a summer job working at school. One form of responsibility overcame one minor irresponsible act. I'll bet she won't do it again!

Nokia 3210s used to be excellent at this, you could submerge them powered on for upto 5 minutes and they'd just keep going :)

[Jon K]

Nokia 3210s used to be excellent at this, you could submerge them powered on for upto 5 minutes and they'd just keep going :)

For all those times I would knock our lawn gnome to the bottom of the pool while ordering chinese food... I could finish the order from the bottom of the pool, retrieve the lawn gnome, and everything was fine!

[whiskychaser]

Nokia 3210s used to be excellent at this, you could submerge them powered on for upto 5 minutes and they'd just keep going :)
Had one of those. Left it on the sand and went for a swim in the sea. Didnt realise the tide was coming in and it got 'wet'. Never worked properly after that. Must have been a duff one:)

[Torque]

hah I had one too. One day it randomly quit working on me and then I realized I had it wrapped in a soaking wet towel while at the pool ... it came back to life a couple days later.
Had one of those. Left it on the sand and went for a swim in the sea. Didnt realise the tide was coming in and it got 'wet'. Never worked properly after that. Must have been a duff one:)

[Macv]

Get a new wife. Upgrade to the 2.0 model.

[pingu]

In the long term, the water shouldn't be a problem. The electronics industry routinely uses water for cleaning circuit boards (to remove the flux after soldering) so the water shouldn't be a problem.

As others have pointed out, the battery isn't likely to be working so get a new battery.

In the short term, I'd take the fob apart (can you separate the halves?) and wash the circuit board using distilled, or dionised, water. (Let's face it, you no longer need to worry about keeping it dry!) There is probably detergent on the circuit board and you want to remove the detergent - if you can see deposits then you might want to try gently rubbing the deposits with a toothbrush.

Then allow the circuit board to dry out in air, replace the battery and it should be good.

Doing the above saved a friend's watch when he dived into a swimming pool and then remembered his watch wasn't waterproof. Good luck!

[Ferret]

Had one of those. Left it on the sand and went for a swim in the sea. Didnt realise the tide was coming in and it got 'wet'. Never worked properly after that. Must have been a duff one:)

:D

Salt water's slightly different... that WILL eat circuitry etc.

[whiskychaser]

:D

Salt water's slightly different... that WILL eat circuitry etc.
I know :) Was in the chemical business for .. a while. Dont get me talking about mobile phones, HF, bicycles.. .
PS. Janet and John are great. ' See John run' :)